In early November, Valve announced that the highly-anticipated Steam Deck would be delayed from December 2021 until February 2022, disappointing those hoping to snag one during the holiday season. The decision was cited as being caused by ongoing supply chain issues caused by the pandemic, and fans largely couldn’t blame the company for something so beyond its control.
New reports are raising fan spirits, however, as the upcoming console is said to already be compatible with 80 of Steam’s 100 most popular titles with only minor tweaks. This report comes from ProtonDB, a community known for testing Linux gaming compatibility. Which ones aren’t compatible? Some in the top ten–including PUBG, Apex Legends, Halo Infinite, and Destiny 2–aren’t playing nice with the console due to Proton’s poor compatibility with certain Anti Cheat services. Despite this hiccup, the system’s preorder period shattered expectations, leaving Valve in a tough position trying to keep up with demand. Although no exclusives are planned on the Steam Deck, fans likely won’t mind–they have 18 years of Steam games to choose from. As the chip shortage continues, some are skeptical that the console will even make its planned February release date. Valve, however, doesn’t seem worried.
The Steam Deck will be incredibly customizable due to its expandable storage and unlimited software selection. There are three price tiers for the console depending on storage space: $399 for 64GB, $529 for 256GB, and $649 for 512GB. However, due to the customizability, consumers can purchase the lowest-priced Steam Deck and expand the storage themselves. Valve has also stated, “There is no in-game difference in frame rates or graphics quality between the three models.” Players can easily access their entire Steam library on the device, making nearly any PC game portable. The console’s ability to accept nearly any software also allows the possibility to play many not on Steam.
The Steam Deck is currently on schedule for a February 2022 release.